Saturday, March 29, 2008

It is not always easy for an enterprise IT architect to keep scope and hold the complete picture. As we have several architects with different competences I felt the urge to develop an IT Services Stack. The IT Services Stack is a picture of a layered view on all aspects of IT from a component perspective.

Early version of the IT Services Stack

I have this picture always at hand during every meeting. And I use the picture to address subjects to the most competent architects.

The idea behind the view is the layering of services delivered by components. At every layer components are defined that play a role in delivering services. Components on one layer make use of services delivered by components on that same layer or by components on the next lower layer. Those are the constraints I applied to construct the model. Don't view the layers as a logical top-down flow, but as a way of grouping and encapsulating cohesive components.

The top layer is the business layer. The next lower layer is the process layer. These two business oriented layers do not exclusively imply externally visible business and processes (like transportation of people by trains), but also internal business and processes. E.g. the IT department delivers services to other departments. This is the IT-scoped business defined at the top level layer. And the processes of the IT business are e.g. software development processes that require development tools (IT-business applications).

Call for collaboration

I would like to make this premature IT Services Stack more consistent and supply an extended view on every component mentioned in the picture. The model should be defined one level deeper, with the following attributes:

Function of the component

Relationship with other components

Sub-level components and models

Related open standards

Innovative products in the market

To achieve this I would like to invite any interested professional to supply me with his/her thoughts, suggestions, corrections and comments on the model. And I would appreciate any input to extend the model with the attributes mentioned above (or any other that you find relevant).

Don't hesitate, even the smallest bit of input is more then welcome to me. If you maintain your own blog, you could help by giving the initiative some attention on your blog.

I will maintain the model based on these inputs and keep all subsequent versions available to the public domain in a powerpoint- and JPG-format. Everybody is free to copy, use and republish the continuously maturing model for his/her own purpose.

Data is in Semantics at the Process layer; in ERD and CDM at the Application layer; in DBMS, Master datamngt, data warehouse, messaging and file-xfer at the Application Infrastructure layer; in Storage and Directory Services at the Technical Infrastructure layer.

Data is in Semantics at the Process layer; in ERD and CDM at the Application layer; in DBMS, Master datamngt, data warehouse, messaging and file-xfer at the Application Infrastructure layer; in Storage and Directory Services at the Technical Infrastructure layer.

Good article. It explains an IT Services Stack with complete architecture. Our company also explains about IT Services and different technologies like SAP, Oracle, HP, Adobe and more. Thanks for sharing useful information with us.